The Crystal Rose of Terra Midgard
by Blizzarian Babe
Summary: En route to drop a new Sky Knight squadron off at Terra Edmontonia the Storm Hawks receive a distress call from nearby Terra Midgard. Some slight PiperxAerrow and OCxOC.
1. Prologue: Blood on Snow

This is something that's been kicking around in the back of my mind for some time so I thought I'd put pen to paper (always good when the characters start talking to you...)

**Disclaimer**- I don't own anything (especially not the Storm Hawk, but I like to!) except from the plot, my original characters (The Glaciers and Ella-Mae, Daisy and Dillan) and my Terra so please no stealing of them!

This is my first attempt at fan fiction, so please review and let me know if I should continue!

xXx

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The Crystal Rose of Terra Midgard

Darkness had fallen on Terra Midgard and the nightly blizzard had started in earnest, hiding everything behind a curtain of snow. The snow began to fall faster, burying the buildings below in a silent white shroud.

Suddenly the blare of a klaxon sounded out and harsh crystal searchlights began to criss-cross the sky above the Cyclonian Military compound nestled into a snow-filled hollow.

Three young Blizzarians huddled in the darkness between buildings, the two littlest were clinging tightly to the tallest one, a female. She crouched down and smoothed down the boy's unruly black hair, "Don't worry Dillan, I promise I'd get you both outta here and I'm never broken a promise to you yet have I?" Ella-Mae smiled reassuringly at the two children and gave them a quick hug before she carefully peeked out of the alley they were hiding in.

"Mommy, they're gonna find us." the little girl whimpered, nervously toying with a lock of her light grey fringe.

Ella-Mae looked back at the twins and laughed, "Those Talons couldn't find their butt with both hands AND a map! The only one we gotta watch out for is the Dark Ace and he left for Cyclonia this morning." She turned back to the mouth of the alley so the kids wouldn't see her worried frown. Whilst it was true that the Talons stationed here on Terra Midgard were totally inept, more so than usual, there were a lot of them and Ella-Mae wasn't entirely sure what she was going to do now that she, Dillan and Daisy had managed to escape from their quarters.

In the end the choice was made for her as Daisy squealed in terror as a Cyclonian guard grabbed her by the back of her t-shirt and lifted her into the air.

"Get your paws off my sister Cyclonian swine!" Dillan shouted before launching himself at the man and sinking his teeth into the Talon's arm.

"_Cyclonian swine?"_ Ella-Mae thought as she raced to the struggling trio, _"Dillan's been reading too many adventures!"_ She drop kicked the Cyclonian who collapsed, twitching.

"Come on kiddies, time to go." She grabbed each of the children by the hand and they raced out of the alley towards the perimeter fence at the edge of the compound. Behind them Ella-Mae could hear the shouts of the Talons. A flash of blood-red light burst from her left; she turned and took the brunt of the blast protecting Daisy from the Talon and his Firebolt staff.

Ella-Mae gasped as she felt the energy wash over her side, it felt like red-hot knives were being buried in her side. She staggered away from the rapidly approaching Talons, the twins helping her to reach the momentary safety behind the generator building.

"Mommy?" Dillan clung to Ella-Mae's arm while Daisy kept a lookout for the Talons.

"I'll be fine sweetheart; we just need to get out of here." Ella-Mae gritted her teeth and forced herself to her feet. She swayed as a wave of dizziness hit her, "Let's go kiddies, you wanna get out right?" Ella-Mae studied the distance between the ground and the top of the fence; it looked to be about 10 feet high. _"I can make that with both the kittens... I think; it'll need a run up though." _

Ella-Mae scooped up the twins in her arms, "Hold on tight you two; we're only gonna get one chance to do this." She began to run as fast as she could toward the lowest section of the fence resolutely ignoring the sticky feeling of her wound bleeding into her fur.

"There they are!" shouted one of the nameless Talons from behind them. Ella-Mae risked a glance behind them and nearly stumbled; there had to be every Talon on the base chasing them. Adrenaline pumped through her system and she sped up, dodging the blasts from the Talon's shock sticks.

As they reached the chain link fence Ella-Mae gathered the last of her flagging strength and jumped. She just managed to clear the spikes but not before another blast hit her in the back.

She screamed and lost her grip on Daisy and Dillan, "No! Please..." She hit the ground badly and screamed again as she felt her leg twist unnaturally beneath her. Ella-Mae saw the twins tumble down the snowy embankment into the blizzard.

"Shit." She tried to get her hands beneath her to get up and find her charges, but her arms seemed to have no strength. She pulled herself toward the edge of the ridge, blood from her wounds soaking the snow around her. She shivered and pulled herself over the edge, falling into the darkness.

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AN:

So what do you think? Is it worth continuing?? Reviewers get e-candy!


	2. Unexpected Guests

To all of my reviewers here, big box of heart-shaped sweets I really loved all of your comments and I hope this chappter doesn't disappoint

**Starly- **Don't worry the Storm Hawks will be making an appearance soon! In about 9 lines actually!

**Green Peridot- **I can't tell you that, that'd be cheating lol!

**Disclaimer**- I don't own anything (especially not the Storm Hawk, but I like to!) except from the plot, my original characters (The Glaciers and Ella-Mae, Daisy and Dillan) and my Terra so please no stealing of them!

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Chapter 1- Unexpected Guests 

Aerrow looked around warily and shivered, Radarr chirruped and snuggled closer to his friend, "_One thing for sure,_" Aerrow thought, "_I'll be glad to get off this Terra and back on the Condor..._" he glanced around the huge dock area where humans and Blizzarians alike were wandering around.

He spotted Finn, his sharpshooter and wingman over by the condor talking to Suzi-Lu, sky knight of the Absolute Zeroes. From the looks of it Finn had lost the bet. Aerrow had been afraid of that; now all he had to do was get onto the Condor without bumping into Piper.

That was easier said than done though; he knew Piper would be on the lookout once Finn started loading the Condor with its new cargo and Aerrow really didn't want to have to explain why they were doing what they're doing.

Aerrow and Radarr darted toward the Condor, keeping a sharp eye out for Piper who would doubtless not be happy once she found out what was going on. Aerrow looked around, saw the coast was clear and walked up the gangway into the ship he called home.

Luckily Piper hadn't spotted Aerrow as she had her nose buried deep in a copy of a recent journal on the applications of crystals in everyday life. She passed by him without a second glance. Radarr squawked and scampered off in the direction of the kitchen.

Aerrow grinned and turned to head off to his quarters when Finn bumped into him, "Hey Aerrow, you seen Piper?" the blond boy asked, lookinh around nervously.

"Don't worry Finn, she's reading one of her magazines; you won't hear anything from her for hours." Aerrow leaned back against a nearby bulkhead, "So how long should we wait 'til we tell her?"

Finn opened his mouth to answer, but before he could the sound of one of his rock records blasted out from the bridge, they heard running feet.

"Uh oh." The two boys said in unison

"Finn!" Piper screeched indignantly as she shot 'round the corner, "How many times do I have to tell you to keep the music down!?" Piper skidded to a halt in front of the two boys and began to poke Finn in the chest with a finger, "You have absolutely no respect for anyone! How do you expect me to find out what those crystals we picked up on our last mission are if you don't…" she trailed off as she realized Finn was in the corridor outside the hangar; not in the bridge where the record player was. Even if he had sprinted all the way from the bridge he still wouldn't have made it to the hangar before Piper.

Piper narrowed her tawny eyes and glared at them both, "What's going on and don't tell me Stork's suddenly developed a taste for Heavy Metal."

Finn smiled his "little boy in trouble smile" and dug the toe of his boot into the floor, "Well you see, it was all Aerrow's idea, take it up with him!" Finn grinned and darted away.

Piper folded her arms and continued to glare at Aerrow who began to crack under her relentless stare, "Well, you remember last night when we were all in the Tavern and then the Zeroes came in," Piper nodded impatient for him to continue, "After you decided to head back to the Condor early and we stayed behind and Finn got into an argument with Suzi-Lu about something and well they decided the only way to settle this was by a Snowshoe drinking contest." Aerrow began to sweat, Piper looked ready to blow.

"Did Finn know Snowshoe is a type of alcoholic drink?" Piper asked almost smiling despite herself; she could easily picture where this story was going.

"Uh I don't think so; she told him it was made from berries. Anyway Finn lost consciousness after his first glass and lost the bet too; and that is why we've now got some unexpected passengers." Aerrow indicated the five Ice Grinders squeezed into one corner of the hangar bay. "Suzi-Lu asked us to take this new Sy Knight squadron to Terra Edmontonia as payment." He smiled weakly

Just then Radarr sprinted by, squeaking in fear; as Piper and Aerrow watched him scurry around the corner they were nearly flattened by Junko and a blond male Blizzarian who were chasing after the terrified mission specialist screaming something that sounded suspiciously like "Sandcakes!!"

Piper peered around him and shot him an exasperated look, "So how are we going to get our skimmers out if we're attacked?"

"Uh I didn't think of that." Aerrow admitted, scratching the back of his head in puzzlement.

"Don't you worry about that, our Grinders will fly too…of course if we're too far from this area they'll probably explode."

Piper and Aerrow looked around looking for the owner of the voice; a female Blizzarian poked her head out from between two of the Ice Grinders, she had lop ears and a pair of the biggest glasses they'd ever seen. She pushed a strand of her damson coloured hair out of her face, leaving behind a streak of dirt, "Have either of you two seen an atmospheric converter anywhere?"

She wiggled out of the space between the vehicles and walked up to the two Storm Hawks by the door; she was small for a Blizzarian and seemed slightly distracted, she held out a hand to Piper, "Hi there, I'm Belinda Blue, but everyone calls me BB, I'm the techie for the Glaciers." BB looked over at Aerrow, "Thanks for agreeing to drop us off at Terra Edmontonia, I hope the boys will behave themselves, but boys will be boys I've found." She suddenly lunged for a device on the floor that looked like a crystal converter on steroids, "Aha! Here it is, 'scuse me" she bounded back to her Ice Grinder and began to attach the device.

Piper wandered over, "What's that for?" she crouched down by BB and handed her a wrench

"This? It's an atmospheric converter. I designed it myself," she patted her vehicle affectionately, "These babies are real tough, they run for just about forever back home, but when you operate them at temperatures above freezing they tend to overheat, and then explode. That's one of the reasons why we're heading to Edmontonia, that's where this model of Ice Grinder was designed; I'd hoped to speak to one of the engineers.

"I've been tinkering with a device to use freezer crystals or something to keep the engine at sub-zero temperatures to see if that'll hold it together; but I just can't seem to get the crystal to work properly."

Piper cocked her head thoughtfully, "Have you tried harmonizing the crystal refraction with the gyroscopic oscillation?"

BB stroked one of her long ears thoughtfully, "you know that might just work." She sat back on her heels, "Thing is none of these little crystals is powerful enough to experiment on." She sighed and absent-mindedly tucked a piece of wire into her ponytail.

"I've got the perfect crystal in my workbench, it's a bit bigger than these, come on I'll show you what I mean." Piper jumped up, irritation forgotten now that she'd found a fellow crystal enthusiast and tugged BB to her feet.

Aerrow spotted his chance to escape as the girls launched into a discussion about the uses of crystals or something, three words in and he was lost already. He stealthily backed toward the door and made a break for the bridge.

Meanwhile the girls were getting along famously BB peered through her goggles at one of Piper's crystals, "These are really good Piper, did you refine them yourself?" Piper nodded, flushed from embarrassment, unused to sincere compliments Piper began to babble, "Well it's really not that hard once you know what kind of crystal you've got…" She stopped as a heavy bass rumble came from Finn's room across the way. Crystals and other apparatus began to vibrate across her desk.

"Finn!" she scream-growled and flung open her door, before stalking across the corridor to pound on Finn's door. BB followed with a puzzled look on her face.

"Finn open up right now or I'll blow the door down! I swear-" she stopped mid yell as the door swished open and she found herself looking up into the face of one of the Blizzarians, this one looked to be in his early twenties and he grinned down at Piper; "Hey Finn, I think this girly wants to talk to ya eh? Or maybe she would rather talk to me, I can be real accommodating" Piper blushed again, and then glared at Finn who was standing next to the blond Blizzarian from earlier. They both waved before starting to head bang to the music. Piper sighed and walked off to the bridge, one hand massaging her temples.

BB poked the black furred Blizzarian, "Simon that was rude! We're guests here you should go apologise! Piper's not one of your floozies you know!" she snorted in disgust and ran after Piper.

Simon stroked his goatee with a frown, before he could make up his mind whether to apologise or not Stork's voice came over the tannoy, "Uh, hello? I think it'd be a good idea for everyone to come to the bridge. We've got an urgent message"

Once everyone was assembled on the bridge Aerrow indicates two new Blizzarians, he introduces the nervous-looking one as Bobby-Lee and the other taller one as Tuomas the leader and Sky Knight. He turns to Stork, "Can you play back the message?"

Stork flips a switch muttering darkly about how they're all doomed. For a few seconds there's nothing but static but then a faint voice can be made out, "It's too faint, Piper can you do something to give us better reception?"

Piper fiddled with some dials on the radio, it screeched harshly for a moment, but then it settled down, "…crackle Mommy's hurt……….zzzzzzit Talons comin…..omeone please help us crackle crackle" for a moment there was silence as the Storm Hawks and Glaciers took in what the message had said. Simon slammed his fist down onto the table making the others jump, "Dammit! That was a kid, just a little girl! We have to do something!"

Aerrow and Tuomas exchanged a look, "Can you trace that signal back to its source?" Aerrow asked Piper.

"I can try." She said doubtfully before starting to scribble calculations on a piece of scrap paper left on the table.

Simon stormed out of the bridge, scowling darkly. Tuomas looked at Bobby-Lee and indicated he should follow; Bobby-Lee gulped convulsively and began to twist the ends of his scarf together. "D-do I have t-t-to?" he stammered

"Don't worry, lil guy, I'll come with you," Junko said good naturedly as the Wallop towed Bobby-Lee out of the bridge. Piper and BB smiled; to Junko almost everyone was a "lil guy".

"Aerrow, I've managed to trace the signal," piper said excitedly, she spread one of her many charts across the table, "This is where we are," she pointed to and area between Terra Nord and Terra Edmontonia, "and this is where the transmission came from; Terra Midgard." She pointed to a tiny terra on the map not too far to the west of where the Condor was now.

"Terra Midgard?" Aerrow asked, "I've never heard of it."

Piper reached for her book of collected Atmosian wisdom but Tuomas beat her to it, "Terra Midgard used to belong to the Blizzarians hundreds of years, one group especially, an all female group of warriors called the Valkyries. They were fierce fighters and masters of the ancient arts of combat," he looked away, "but that didn't help them when the Cyclonians came, they destroyed everything, left no survivors, since then Midgard has belonged to Cyclonia.

"I don't know why they fought so hard for it, Midgard is just a ball of ice, there's no crystals or anything."

"It could be a trap." Aerrow said neutrally.

Tuomas looked up and smiled grimly, "I don't care if it is Aerrow, I can't take that chance. Would you be able to ignore a child asking for help? Besides I get the feeling if I didn't go Simon would go without us."

"Damn straight." Simon strode back into the bridge and lounged against the back wall, "Squirt managed to talk some sense into me as I was gonna go AWOL." Simon ruffled Bobby-lee's hair. Bobby-Lee yelped and leapt a foot into the air before seeming to realize it was only his teammate.

"Then we go to Terra Midgard!" Aerrow declared; glad that he'd have the backup of another squadron if it was indeed a trap lying ahead of them. "Full speed Stork, we don't know how much time we have!"

The Merb sighed and gunned the Condors engines, heading into the unknown (and probably dangerous) skies over the Midgardian territory.

"We're all doomed."

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AN: I wrote this chapter and totally forgot to put Junko in -hangs head in shame- I guess he was just chasing Radarr for the entire chapter...

But fear not Junko fans he'll have a bigger role in the next chapter... I promise!

Everyone who reviews this time gets a shot of Snowshoe (think apple-flavoured vodka and you'd be pretty close)


	3. Terra Midgard

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Disclaimer**- I don't own anything (especially not the Storm Hawk, but I like to!) except from the plot, my original characters (The Glaciers and Ella-Mae, Daisy and Dillan) and my Terra so please no stealing of them!

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Chapter 2- Terra Midgard

The Condor swooped down over Terra Midgard, banking hard left as Stork frantically tried to avoid the worst of the snowstorm which had started the moment the Condor had passed over the terra.

"Um, Aerrow, I hate to tell you this, but unless we land soon we're going to be facing cold, snowy death. The Condor can't take much more of this." Stork hauled on the controls, barely missing a mountain which loomed suddenly out of the blizzard. The Condor groaned and shuddered as she was hit by another powerful gust of wind.

"Alright Stork, set her down, we'll just have to continue on foot." Aerrow frowned and grabbed onto the table as the Condor dropped, _"Maybe we're in too deep."_ He thought before shaking his head, _"No, someone needs our help, we can't let a little snow stop us."_

"I'd suggest everyone finds something to hold on to, things might get a little bumpy." Stork looked over his shoulder at the frightened-looking passengers, "I'd like to point out that I told you if we came here, we'd suffer a painful icy demise." Stork eased the nose of the Condor down in an attempt to fly under the turbulence.

It seemed to have worked, the storm was raging above them but they could clearly see the ground below was undisturbed by the storms above. As one they let out a sigh of relief and relaxed.

The Condor lurched as the storm descended, and despite Stork's best efforts the Condor was going down. There was a hideous whine and then a sound that can only be described as 'phut' and then the Condor's back end fishtailed around sending the rest of the Storm Hawks and Glaciers flying across the bridge. He threw himself to the right trying to compensate for the sudden loss of power, "We've lost the port engine!" he yelled over the roar of the remaining engine as it struggled to keep the carrier aloft.

"Junko, get down to the engine room and see if you can get our engine back" Aerrow picked himself up and shook his head to clear it as Junko and Radarr ran out of the bridge to try and keep the Condor together for at least one more day.

The others struggled to their feet and quickly found things to hold onto. The Condor screamed and began to spiral towards the quickly approaching snowfield.

"We're gonna die!!" Finn yelled as he lost his grip on a support bar and slid across the floor to land with a thud on the large window. "Aaarg! I'm too pretty to die!!" He risked another glance out of thee window, "Stork make it stop!"

"I'm trying." Stork hissed, he turned the Condor so it was pointing head on to the ground and hauled back on the controls, the ship's nose lifted slightly; just enough so that when she hit she wouldn't roll.

Steam began to hiss from broken pipes but there was little time to fix them as the Condor hit the ground. Hard.

One the Condor's pontoons hit a rocky out cropping and the ship was sent spinning in the opposite direction. Blizzarians and Storm Hawks alike were sent flying everywhere. Shrieks and yells filled the air as everyone, apart from Stork; still clinging to the helm was thrown from side to side.

The Condor began to tip over, Piper screamed as an unsecured crate of crystals began to fall towards her. She covered her head with her arms and braced herself for the impact.

Which never happened.

Piper risked opening one amber eye, crystals were scattered all over the floor, all around her. She looked up to see Aerrow standing protectively in front of her, blade glowing with blue energy and fragments of crate everywhere.

"Piper, are you okay?" He looked over his shoulder and flashed his trademark grin. Piper nodded shakily and got to her feet, the Condor lurched again and she was catapulted into Aerrow's arms. Piper squeaked as Aerrow instinctively grabbed hold of her. Blushing madly they both tried to look anywhere but directly at each other.

The Condor crashed back down onto both pontoons, sending up a wave of powdery snow. Stork grunted and pulled the lever to deploy the grappling hooks usually used to secure the carrier in her hammock. One hit the nearby mountain and glanced off, Stork gunned the Condor's remaining main engine and swung the helm around in an attempt to get another shot.

Jay peered out of the large front window, eyes with fright, "Lookie there eh, there's a cliff coming up!" he pointed at a black line in the snow a few hundred yards away. The Condor was hurtling straight for the precipice at an alarming speed.

Stork fired off the grappling hooks again; this time two caught and held, burrowing deeper into the black rock. The Condor jerked as the lines attached to the hooks reached their limit. Everyone was flung forward at the sudden stop; there was a horrible squealing sound as the hooks' grip on the rock slipped.

The Condor shuddered to a halt only meters from the edge of a seemingly bottomless drop. The ship groaned again as if in complaint at her ill-treatment, then fell completely quiet; even the hissing of the broken steam vents seemed subdued.

In the silence following the crash the Storm Hawks and Glaciers did a quick stock take of the situation, making sure they all had the same amount of fingers and toes as when they started.

"Y'all okay?" Tuomas poked his head out from the stack of boxes he'd fallen into. He grabbed his cap from underneath the table and jammed it firmly onto his head making sure his ears were tucked inside.

There came a chorus of groans and affirmations from his squad who not used to flying in carriers had been thrown around more than the Storm Hawks.

Aerrow finally realised he was still holding onto Piper, "Uh, sorry." He quickly let go of her and stepped away. Piper looked away; hiding her disappointment that Aerrow seemed so eager to get away from her.

Radarr and Junko stumbled back into the bridge, "Is everyone okay?" Junko looked worried until he saw for himself that his friends were unhurt. Radarr chirped and launched himself at Aerrow, clinging to his head like a limpet. Aerrow smiled and petted Radarr reassuringly.

"Woo! That was awesome eh!" Jay jumped up and punched the air excitedly. He clapped Stork on the back, "That was some hardcore flying eh." Stork yelped and leapt away, hiding behind Finn. Jay scratched one yellow ear, "Geez, you're jumpier than Bobby-Lee and _he's_ jitterier than a snow cat in a ice storm."

"Y-yeah, b-big b-brother, it was a h-hoot." Bobby-Lee said sarcastically as BB gently cleaned and bandaged a gash on his forearm, "L-let's d-do it ag-gain."

"Junko, how's the engine look?" Aerrow asked as the Condor's passengers began to set the bridge back in order.

Junko rubbed the back of his head, "It doesn't look good, the casing's trashed and he crystal converters are in pieces." The wallop shifted from nervously from foot to foot, "That's not all…the spare parts were destroyed in the crash too…"

"But the other engines are alright aren't they?" Finn asked desperately, "After all we've flown with one busted before."

"It doesn't matter; we're all doomed!" Stork popped up suddenly from behind Finn, making the blond boy jump, "The rudder is broken, the starter springs are frozen, we used up most of our crystal fuel trying to steer through the storm and this strange rash is back." One of the merb's yellow eyes twitched as the storm outside intensified, sending gusts of ice and snow at the Condor, seeming as though the storm itself wanted to get inside.

Stork shivered and pulled the lever which would send the blast doors down to cover the bridge windows to try and keep what little heat they had left inside the ship. As they closed Stork thought he saw something out there, but he dismissed it.

"_After all,"_ he thought, _"not even a Blizzarian would b stupid enough to go out in a storm like this…"_ he looked around at the Glaciers, _"then again…"_ He dismissed the shadow as his imagination and went off in search of some of Piper's furnace crystals.

Outside on the rocky outcropping the Condor was anchored to stood a cloaked figure. The cloak flapped madly in the storm winds, but the wearer seemed unaffected by the wind or extreme cold. The figure pointed a crystal-tipped halberd at the stricken vessel, sending another blast at the ship, encasing the most badly damaged parts in ice.

A dark blue furred hand plucked the crystal from the pole arm and almost immediately the fierce blizzard slowed, then stopped altogether.

Taking care not to leave footprints the figure turned and nimbly jumped down the rocky cliff tops and out of sight.

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AN: So to all who reviewed have a big ol slice of Snowberry pie (I'm not above bribing you lovely people for reviews! lol) 


	4. Didvided and Conquered?

TCRM-3- Divided and Conquered?

Dawn the next day saw the Storm Hawks and Glaciers hard at work doing what they could to fix the Condor with the limited supplies on hand.

Stork and Simon were outside checking on the hull damage. Simon tapped the ice sheet covering a six foot tear in the skin of one of the pontoons with a black-furred knuckle, "Hoo-wee, that's gotta be two foot thick at least. Whaddya think did it? T'weren't no storm did this alone eh."

Stork hugged one arm around himself and prodded the ice with a hand-held scanner, "Hmm, according to this, the ice has the same density as diamond." He shrank further in on himself, trying to keep warm. "Let's go, I'm sure I have hypothermia already." The merb stalked back toward the Condor's access ramp muttering darkly about amputation due to frostbite.

In the hangar BB and Junko were fixing up the vehicles. The Glacier's ultra tough ice grinders had made it through the crash with barely a scratch; unfortunately the same could not be said for the Storm Hawks skimmers. So far it seemed to only be minor damage, but it was enough to keep them grounded for now.

Aerrow and Tuomas were studying a map of Terra Midgard Stork had just happened to have handy and they were helping Piper to roughly triangulate where the distress call had been sent from.

"Aerrow, I think the signal came from here," Piper tapped a spot no too far from the Condor, "but I can't be sure, the signal was being bounced around all over the terra."

"Good job Piper, let's go help that kid!" Aerrow smiled warmly at his navigator, "Right Tuomas I'll need your squadron to take point, you know this sort of terrain better than any us. Piper, I want you and BB to stay behind and get the medical supplies ready, we don't know what's wrong, but it sounded pretty bad." Piper nodded and ran off in search of BB.

The others had assembled in the hangar bay, ready to move out. Aerrow moved to the front of the group, "Those of us going on the rescue mission will be split up into groups of two in order to cover more ground. Stork, I'll need you to stay behind and do what you can to fix the Condor. We're going to try and find that signal before we lose the light."

"I wouldn't go if I were you, there's bound to be all sorts of horrible, most likely fatal things out there. Hypercanes, ice storms, hideous beasts," Stork ticked off the many perils on his fingers, "but if you insist on going, I have just the thing for this situation," he rooted around in a crate with a snowflake painted on the lid, he re-emerged with several pairs of goggles, he threw a pair to each of the rescue teams, "These goggles will let you see in the storms; they detect body heat so you can avoid snow beasts hiding in the snow; and thus avoid a slow and painful death, being eaten alive." Stork grinned evilly at Bobby-Lee's frightened expression.

"Alright, awesome." Finn slipped on the goggles, "Hey, I can see Piper," he pointed to the far wall of the hangar which formed one wall of Piper's workshop, "she's coming this way with that Blizzarian chick." He pushed the heat-seeker goggles up onto his forehead, careful not to mess up his freshly-gelled spiky hair.

Piper and BB walked into the hangar with handfuls of the hand scanners Stork had been using earlier. She handed one to each of the rescue teams, "BB helped make these last night; they'll help you track the signal," Piper explained, "I've programmed in the distress call so it should home in on the original site. The arrow on the screen will point to the signal, in theory." She paused, "It only has a short range though and heavy snowfall might interfere with it."

Aerrow handed his scanner to Radarr, "Good work you two, these should help us when we get to the signal site on the map; let's ride!" Radarr jumped on the back of one of the ice grinders with a squawk and snapped on the heat-seeker goggles. Aerrow gunned his borrowed ice grinder's engine and roared out of the hangar and down the ramp followed by the others, Jay and Junko, Tuomas and Bobby-Lee and Simon and Finn.

"Be careful." Piper watched the boys until they were out of sight.

Everything seemed to be going according to plan until they were about a mile from the Condor, Aerrow screeched to a halt in a flurry of snow, "There's something wrong with the scanner!" the others stopped and checked their own scanners; each one was now pointing in a different direction to all the others.

"What do we do now eh?" asked Tuomas after watching the arrows dance for a while.

"I guess we split up." Aerrow said doubtfully. "Just follow the signal and keep in radio contact at all times."

"Rock on, let's ride!"

The boys spun their ice grinders in the direction of their own signals and sped off into the unending whiteness.

Aerrow and Radarr headed south, following the steady beeps of the hand scanner. They flew across the tundra looking for a sign, the wreck of a crash, anything. Radarr chirped and shoved the scanner under Aerrow's nose; it was beeping madly and the pointer was vibrating with urgency.

"We must be getting close Radarr, keep a sharp eye out." Aerrow swung the ice grinder around to follow the signal which now seemed to be on the move.

The beeps were now an almost uninterrupted hum now, "We must be right on top of it!" Aerrow exclaimed, "Hey!? What's going on?" a snow storm had sprung up, seemingly from nowhere. Radarr screeched frantically and pointed, Aerrow took the goggles from his co-pilot ad slipped them over his eyes; there was a human-sized heat signature in the centre of the blizzard. Aerrow called out and tried to drive into the storm, but the figure lifted one arm and the storm doubled in fury.

Aerrow cursed and turned his ice grinder around, "It's no good buddy, we have to turn back." He began to head back to the Condor, harried the whole way by a storm that seemed to have a life of its own.

He flicked the radio button on the ice grinder, "Aerrow to Condor, I'm heading back, there's a storm on the way; better batten own the hatches."

"Condor to Aerrow, I think after that crash we have no hatches left." Came Stork's dry response.

"I wonder how the others are doing? I hope they had better luck us" Aerrow mused as they raced the storm.

Five miles to the north of where the signal went nuts Tuomas and Bobby-Lee's ice grinder crested a ridge, "How're you holding up Bobby?" Tuomas let the powerful engine idle.

"I-I'm okay, m-my arm hurts a little, b-but B-blue p-p-patched it up real g-good." Bobby-Lee waggled the fingers on his left hand, which was supported in a makeshift sling made from his scarf, "It does m-mean I c-can't use m-my c-crossbow."

Tuomas smiled at his friend reassuringly, "Well hopefully we'll not need it eh." The older Blizzarian gunned the engine and the ice grinder began to slide down the snow bank, "Lookie there eh, smoke!" Tuomas pointed and began to drive toward the black column, "Maybe its them kids."

Bobby-Lee held on awkwardly with one arm as the ice grinder picked up speed. He peered over Toumas' shoulder, "W-wait! Cyc-cyclonians!" he pointed at the symbol on a large piece of metal sticking out of the snow.

"Oh no, this looks bad eh." Tuomas looked around warily; it looked like something big had exploded, "There's a building over there eh, maybe that's where the survivors went."

"Th-there's someone there!" Bobby-Lee pointed to a cloaked figure standing by the building's chain link fence. Tuomas turned the ice grinder uphill; the masked figure raised the hand holding a halberd and pointed it at the boys.

"I think we're in trouble eh," Tuomas spun the machine around and opened the throttle as far as it would go just as a cone of ice from the hill hit where the yound Blizzarians had been a moment before.

They fled back toward the Condor; being chased by the snow. Bobby-Lee looked back, but the figure had disappeared.

Jay and Junko weren't faring much better to the east; Jay tapped the scanner's screen despondently; they'd suddenly lost the signal and were now aimlessly criss-crossing their tracks in the hopes of picking up the trail again.

"You hungry there Junko?" drawled Jay as they stopped to check for the signal again.

"Well, now that you mention it I am kinda am hungry." Junko said, Piper's sandcakes seemed a long way away out here in the wilderness. Junko leaned the ice grinder over on its kickstand and hopped off the machine.

Jay rootled around in his bag, "I got some snowberry pie from Terra Nord." The blond Blizzarian offered Junko a slice of the pie.

"It's not frozen is it?" Junko asked doubtfully, remembering his last experience with Blizzarian pies. The brain freeze he had gotten had lasted for _hours._

Jay flashed the wallop a chip-toothed grin, "Naw, not after sitting on these engines for hours; it's a pity snowberries are best froze eh." Jay chomped his slice down in one and smacked his lip appreciatively.

Junko took a careful bite; it was still cold, but it tasted good, "mm, tingly," Junko licked the crumbs off his fingers, "they taste like strawberries."

Jay's ears twitched, "You hear that eh Junko? Sounds like a storm's coming, a big one." Junko picked the scanner up off the ice grinder's seat, "I think we should get on out of here eh Junko."

Junko checked the scanner again, it was now pointing back the way they had come from; back toward the Condor. "I think there's something wrong with these scanners, maybe it needs a new crystal or something."

The two lads hopped back onto the ice grinder, completely unaware that they had been watched the entire time by a figure wearing a white cloak.

It pointed its poleaxe to the sky, calling down more snow and icy winds.

The figure pricked up its ears, listening to the sound of the storms its sisters had started. She pointed her staff toward the Condor's crash site, on a path to join with the other storms to form a hypercane.

Meanwhile Simon and Finn weren't having much success either. As Simon raced across the Terra Finn scanned the horizon. Privately Finn thought it wasn't likely they would find anything in the wastelands, but after Simon's outburst he decided to keep that to himself.

The ice grinder jumped over a snowdrift and Finn spotted something to the right, "Hey! There's something over there!" he pointed and Simon swung the ice grinder around.

The black bundle Finn had spotted scrambled to its feet and began to struggle away from the snow; the child looked back fearfully over his shoulder.

"Lookie there eh, it's another Blizzarian; but he's just a kitten, he shouldn't be out here." Simon slowed the ice grinder as they caught up with the child, "Hey there kiddo, we's not gonna hurt you eh."

Fin leaned forward, "Do you think he's the one who sent the message?"

Simon shrugged, "I dunno eh; but a kit shouldn't be out here alone." He pulled alongside the terrified boy, "Hey there, whatcha doing all the way out here on your own eh?"

The boy looked over and pushed the fur-lined hood of his coat back, revealing a almost Blizzarian face; instead of the ice blue fur Blizzarians were known for, the child was covered in black fur from head to toe with only a small white blaze across his nose. He pointed at Simon, "You look like mommy, are you here to help her?"

Simon blinked, but smiled widely, "Uh huh, we heard your message and we've come to help you and your mom."

Finn pulled off the heat-seeker goggles and leaned over Simon's shoulder, "Yeah, where is she anyway?"

When the youngster saw Finn he panicked and screamed, "No! He's a talon, he's a bad person! I won't go back! You can't make me!" he turned and scrambled away over another snowdrift.

Confused the two teen exchanged glances, Simon shrugged and bounded after the boy, his long legs carrying him quickly over the deep snow. He caught up to the child in a few strides, "Hey there, what you running from eh?" Simon crouched down in front of the sobbing child, "What's your name kit?"

"D-Dillan." The boy scrubbed away the dampness the tears had left on his fur, "Are you a prisoner too? Mommy said the Talons are bad people and he looks like one of the Talon's who guarded us at the Facility." He folded his arms and frowned, "If you're a prisoner too how are you going to help mommy?"

Simon smiled and ruffled the boys hair, which like his own refused to stay flat, "I'm not a prisoner, I fight the Cyclonians and so does Finn who isn't a Talon at all. We came all the way from Terra Nord to come and help you and your mom. Do you know where that is?"

Dillan shook his head, "I ain't never been off the Terra, we only escaped from the Facility a few days ago; I wanted to look for help but it's a lot bigger out here than the Facility was," he leaned forward as if to impart a secret, "and there's no signposts out here if you get lost."

Meanwhile back at the ice grinder Finn was pacing, trying to keep warm now a cold wind had sprung up. He sighed and then jumped as the radio crackled into life, "-ecue teams…bad storms crackle -ad back to Condor."

"aw man." Finn shivered and yelped as a large clump of snow found its way down the back of his shirt. He hopped onto the ice grinder and drove in the direction the blizzarias had gone, unmindful of the hand scanner which was lying in the snow where he had knocked it off the ice grinder's seat.

Dillan saw the ice grinder approaching and whimpered, hiding behind the big Blizzarian, "You promise he won't hurt me?" he began to shake and clung tighter to Simon who smiled and patted the boy on the head, "Finn's one of the good guys, I promise, but if he misbehaves you can hit him."

Finn stopped the ice grinder, "Hey guys, we'd better get going; there's a storm coming and I don't know about you but I wanna get back to the Condor before that happens."

Dillan peered around Simon's legs and sniffed the air, "You won't make it, the storm's only a half mile away." He looked up at Simon, "You told me you were going to help mommy, why are you going away?"

Simon lifted Dillan onto the ice grinder behind Finn, "Don't you worry none eh, we're going to take you home now. I bet it's a hell- uh heck of a lot closer than the Condor anyway, right?"

Dillan nodded and pointed over the hill ahead of them, "Mommy's over there with Daisy." Snow began to fall around them and the wind picked up, whipping the snowflakes into hundreds of tiny tornadoes.

Simon squeezed onto the now overcrowded ice grinder and roared off in the direction Dillan had pointed; the snow hot on their heels.

A white-cloaked figure emerged from its hiding place in the snowfield, it picked up the hand-scanner Finn had dropped and frowned. The offworlders ere not supposed to find the children. The figure pushed its hood back and began to toy with the gold hoop in one candy pink ear. It turned to reveal a female Blizzarian with all pink fur; she shivered, she really didn't want to tell the Priestess she had failed.

She sighed and pulled her hood back up and began to follow the tracks of the ice grinder. If she failed in stopping them finding the children, she's make sure they couldn't leave. Ever.

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AN: many thanks to all the reviewers, you lovely, lovely people. Reviews make me happy :) 

For those who review this chappie can get a nifty hand-scanner (made in a hurry so no guarantees!)


	5. Back on the Condor

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****Disclaimer**- I don't own anything (especially not the Storm Hawks, but I like to!) except from the plot, my original characters (The Glaciers and Ella-Mae, Daisy and Dillan) and my Terra so please no stealing of them! 

**AN: **I'm sorry this update has taken so long, but my friend Chris had some girl troubles and needed a shoulder to cry on, thus this chappie didn't get written as quickly as I would have done otherwise :(

Good news for all Piper/Aerrow shipper tho, this chapter turned out to be largely fluff...

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The Crystal Rose of Terra Midgard 

Chapter 4- Back at the Condor

The sun was beginning its descent behind the ridge the Condor was still anchored to. Fierce gusts of wind buffeted the carrier and snow swirled against the windows as if trying to hide the terra from the teens inside.

Aerrow paced restlessly around the bridge; casting worried looks out of the large windows every few seconds, "They should be back by now," he ran a hand through his hair, disordering it more than usual, "Stork, have you managed to get hold of Finn or Simon yet?"

The merb turned and peered out from under his long black fringe, "It's no good Aerrow, there's too much interference... it could be the weather, but something could be jamming our signal."

"that's it; I'm going after them." Aerrow truned toward the doorway as tuomas walked onto the bridge, "I wouldn't worry too much eh aerrow, my squaddies are tough don'tcha know; Simon'll keep your boy safge."

"I'm sure they're fine aerrow," Piper said gently and put her hand on his arm, "Who better to keep Finn safe in a blizzard than a Blizzarian?" she smiled up at him.

"You're right, I'm sure they're okay, but I can't help but worry, you know what Finn is like." Aerrow smiled back at Piper and unthinkingly put one hand over hers, "Thanks Piper."

Piper grinned and blushed happily; Aerrow looked down at their interlinked hands, "Uh," he cleared his throat nervously, "I better go see how Junko's getting along with those engine repairs." Aerrow turned and bolted out of the bridge.

Radar patted Piper's leg and gave her a small thumbs up before scampering after Aerrow. Piper sighed despondently, _"Why are boys so stupid?" _she wandered over to the kitchen; BB and Bobby-Lee looked up from their card game as the depressed navigator walked past. BB pulled Bobby-Lee towards her and began to whisper in his ear, he nodded and headed off to the hangar.

BB stood and followed Piper, who was angrily scrubbing a pot, "You okay there Piper?" BB propped one hip against the work top, "You want a hand with dinner eh?" Piper surreptitiously wiped away a tear and nodded.

Meanwhile Aerrow had escaped to his room; he sat heavily on his bunk, ran his hands through his already unruly hair and groaned, _"What am I doing? Piper's my friend; I've know her for years. I shouldn't be feeling this way, should I?" _There'd been moments recently where he'd catch a glimpse of her and he'd feel like he had just been Walloped.

Aerrow threw himself back so he was lying across his bunk; he knew that he should be out looking for Finn and Simon but whenever he tried to muster the will to get up a pair of amber eyes would drift across his vision, happily derailing his train of thought.

His door hissed open and Radarr jumped up on the bunk beside Aerrow, "What am I gonna do?" Aerrow asked his co pilot. Radarr patted Aerrow with one small paw and pulled two of Finn's glove puppets from out of his little backpack; they were the replicas of Piper and Aerrow.

Radarr popped one on each hand and pantomimed the puppets involved in a passionate kiss; Aerrow rolled his eyes, "Thanks for the advice buddy." Radarr grinned and waggled his eyebrows suggestively before throwing the puppets at his friend and scampering out of the room.

Aerrow smiled wryly before carefully tucking the Piper puppet inside his top. There was a knock on the door and Piper peered around it, not meeting his eyes, "Uh, dinner's ready now Aerrow."

Before Aerrow could answer Piper had disappeared back down the corridor. Aerrow sighed and followed her.

As the teens sat around the table, quietly picking at their food, the storm outside buffeted the Condor. They were all worried for their missing friends, Junko especially. Not even Piper's famous sandcakes could get a smile out of him.

"Don't worry there Junko; Simon's the toughest guy I know eh." Tuomas said as he reached for the plate of sandcakes, "If anyone can find a way through this storm, it's him."

Junko sighed and nodded before excusing himself and heading to his room; Bobby-Lee jumped up, "W-wait up J-Junko, c-can you sh-show me wh-w-where w-w-we'll be sleeping?"

As Piper began to gather up the empty plates BB elbowed Stork, who yelped, "I think that you should show the rest of us to our rooms eh?"

"What? But-" Stork's eyes darted around nervously; all of the Blizzarians were grinning at him, a sure sign of a brain worm infestation. Jay, who had been sitting on Stork's left stood and hauled the twitchy teen out of his seat.

"Aerrow can help Piper while you show us to our bunks eh." Tuomas stood, grabbed Stork's other arm and the three Blizzarians hastily ushered the merb out of the briddge.

BB turned at the door and gave the confused looking Aerrow a thumbs up before hurrying after the rest of her squadron.

Piper came back out of the kitchen, "Hey, where'd everybody go?" She frowned and stuck her hand on her hip, "They could have at least help clear up." 

Aerrow smiled at Piper, "I think Stork was going to show them where they were going to bunk down tonight." He picked up the last of the plates and carried them into the kitchen. He dropped them into the sink and began washing them in an attempt to soothe Piper's ruffled feathers.

Silently Piper began to dry the freshly washed dishes, casting quick sideways glances at Aerrow when she thought he wasn't looking.

"You know," Aerrow began as he dried his hands, "I think the others are trying to tell us something." He pulled the Piper puppet out of his jacket; he gently took hold of Piper's hand and placed the puppet on her palm.

Piper looked at Aerrow with wide eyes, "What do you mean? I thought everyone just wanted to get out of doing the washing up."

Aerrow smiled, "I guess that's true too," his smile faded and he rubbed the back of his neck, "Uh, I... um; well the thing is Piper, lately I..." he trailed off as Piper moved closer.

"Aerrow," she gazed at him with longing in her eyes, "I," somehow they'd edged closer together until there was only inches separating them. Piper's eyes drifted shut. As Aerrow's lips descended towards Piper's they were rudely jolted from their private moment by the blaring of the proximity alarm.

Surprised, Piper pulled away first and fled the kitchen, dropping the Piper puppet in her distress.

Aerrow cursed and ran after his girl.

Stork was frantically pushing buttons as Piper peered through one of the periscopes, "It's no good, I can't see anything! The snow's too thick."

Stork looked critically at his dials and gauges; "This is why I hate snow!" he glared at the snow swirling against the windows, "We wouldn't be able to tell if the entire Cyclonian fleet was out there! We're all doomed; we're all going to die slow, painfully cold deaths!"

Aerrow patted the hysterical merb on the shoulder, "It was probably just a snow drift piling up against the hull."

The distressed pilot threw up his hands, "That's worse! We're going to be buried alive! We'll have to resort to cannibalism...I vote him first." He pointed a finger at Radarr, who growled.

As the others crowded around Stork, no one looked out of the window, so no one saw the masked and cloaked figures making their way stealthily towards the Condor.


	6. Racing the Storm

**Disclaimer**- I don't own anything (especially not the Storm Hawks, but I like to!) except from the plot, my original characters (The Glaciers and Ella-Mae, Daisy and Dillan) and my Terra so please no stealing of them!

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Chapter 5- Racing the Storm 

Simon glanced back over his shoulder and cursed fluently, the storm was catching up to them, fast and the ice grinder was struggling with its three person load. "Hey kid, are we anywhere near your digs yet?"

Dillan cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "I think we're nearly there, over the next hill there should be our house."

Finn yelped as a hailstone pinged off his ear, "We better get there soon man, it's getting painful back here!"

Simon twisted the throttle savagely and the ice grinder leapt forward, escaping for the moment from the relentless hail of icy bullets. The machine flew over a snow drift and skidded down the other side, almost tipping over. As the ice grinder stuttered forward Dillan shouted excitedly, "There it is! We made it!" and he jumped off the vehicle before it had even stopped.

Simon slewed the ice grinder to a halt outside the door of the hut. The two teens leapt off and ran to the cabin where Dillan was banging on the door. "Hey Daisy! It's Dillan, open the door!" he stood on tiptoes, peered through the lighted window and waved at someone inside.

The door opened a fraction; just enough to let a sliver of warmth and light escape into the darkening night. A suspicious eye glared out at them; Dillan stepped back and tugged Simon forward into the circle of light, "Daisy, I've found some people who are gonna help mommy."

The door swung open a little more and a girl around Dillan's height stood in the doorway with a distrustful look on her face. She looked very much like Dillan, but her fur was pewter grey and her ears had more of a downward carriage. Her hair was tied in pigtails the ribbons of which she clutched in one hand nervously.

"Hey there girly, are you gonna let us in eh? It's cold out, and we can't help your mom if we're out here." Simon crouched down to her level and smiled at her gently.

"Dillan, get inside, we can't trust them." She narrowed her eyes at the shivering Finn, "That one is human, and bound to be a Cyclonian." Daisy scowled and grabbed Dillan's arm.

Dillan pulled away, "You gotta let them in, they knew about our message and it's all snowy out; Finn and Simon wouldn't get back to their ship in time." He paused, then smiled smugly, "'Sides mommy says we have a duty to help those in need."

Daisy scowled again but stepped aside, as Finn crossed the threshold she slammed the door and bolted it shut, "You're only here to help Aunty Ella, so don't get any funny ideas!" she pointed a stern finger at Simon and Finn before helping Dillan out of his sodden coat.

Finn shivered as he took stock of the hut, his keen eyes missed nothing. It was a small single storey stone cabin which was sparsely furnished; the floors were bare as were the walls, it was clear that it hadn't been used in a long time. There was dust coating every flat surface, inches thick in some places.

He sneezed and Daisy sighed impatiently before pointing through an open doorway, "There's a fire in there, but be quiet, Aunty Ella's in there and she's..." she paused and looked at Dillan, "sleeping."

The boys obediently trooped into the room Daisy had indicated. Finn stopped to savour the wall of warmth the fire was putting out; he huddled as close to it as he could without setting himself alight. On the floor on the other side of the fireplace was a mattress plied high with blankets and pillows; just visible underneath were a pair of pinky purple ears.

Simon was trying to tease some information out of the children, "So you two are related eh?" he ruffled Daisy's hair, and despite herself she smiled briefly.

Dillan grinned, "Yup we're twins...but we don't look much like each other." It was true, where his black hair and ears stuck up every which way Daisy was perfectly neat and tidy.

"It's because we're fraternal twins Dilly, Aunty Ella explained that to us last year." Daisy looked at her brother quickly before resuming her observation of Finn whom she clearly didn't trust.

"Ah, okies, I forgot," Dillan grinned, "we don't look much like mommy either." He grabbed hold of Simon's hand and began to pull him toward the mound of blankets, he looked up at his new best friend carefully, "You look like mommy," Dillan pointed at Simon's head, "but your hair is the same colour as mine." He stopped as an idea suddenly occurred to him, "Are you my daddy?"

Simon gaped, lost for words, "Uh," he didn't know what to say; Finn was choking with laughter and Dillan was looking up at him with hopeful eyes. He struggled to find the right way to let the kid down, luckily for him Daisy piped up from Finn's side, "Don't be an idiot Dilly, Aunty Ella said she didn't know who our father was, only that he was a Midgardian, Simon is clearly an offworlder."

Finn frowned thoughtfully, "If you two are twins why does Dillan call that girl mum and you call her Aunty Ella?"

"Well her name is Ella-Mae and she's not-" Daisy began.

Simon's ears pricked up, "Ella-Mae?" he knelt and gently pulled back the blankets covering the still form on the mattress. As she was revealed Simon gasped as though he'd been punched. He looked down at a vaguely familiar face; one he recognised from a long time ago.

"Ellie..." he whispered and gently brushed a strand of dark purple hair out of her face. He winced as he examined the pale Blizzarian's injuries; there was dried blood caked into her fur and a lopsided bandage wound around her head. He saw one gold hoop in her left ear and smiled, briefly touching a necklace hidden under his tunic.

"What happened?" Finn crouched on Ella-Mae's other side. Daisy came and sat down next to her brother who was sniffling, "Well it started like this..." she quickly filled Finn in on what had happened during their escape from the Cyclonian compound.

Simon listened with one ear as he continued checking the girl's wounds. He was concerned because she was so still and pale, she didn't even flick when he gingerly probed the hole in her side from the Talons firebolt blasts. The only indication she was still alive was the slight rise and fall of her chest.

Simon placed a hand on Ella-Mae's forehead; she was burning up with fever. He sighed and wrapped an arm around Dillan who was openly crying now, Daisy wasn't far off, her eyes glittered with tears but she refused to let them fall.

"Say there Kit, do you have a radio here eh? We need to tell our friends where to come pick us up so we can help your mommy."

Daisy stood and brushed dust off her pink, baggy bloomer-like shorts and sniffed, "I'll show Blondie where it is." She looked at him, haughty as a duchess and sailed out of the room, not waiting to see if Finn followed.

"Is mommy going to die?" Dillan asked fearfully, clinging to the older Blizzarian.

Simon smiled at him, "Of course not Kit, your mom's tough don'tyaknow. She'll get better because she's gotta look after you two eh." He carefully detached Dillan and stood, "I reckon she'll wake up soon eh and I bet she'll be real hungry. We should make something nice for her and I bet you're hungry too right?"

Dillan nodded and padded into the kitchen, Simon lifted Dillan onto the counter and began rummaging in the cupboards for edible food. A thorough search yielded two cans of soup and half a stale loaf of bread.

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Finn was feeling uneasy, he wasn't used to girls giving him a second glance despite his obvious manly attraction, but Daisy was attempting to bore a hole in his back with her glare of death.

"That's the radio, it doesn't always work so good; Dillan had to rebuild it." She folded her arms across her skinny chest and scowled up at Finn, "Make one wrong move Blondie and I swear I'll give you such a stabbing."

Finn gulped nervously; though he'd never admit it he was terrified of the diminutive Daisy, a child less than half his height and about seven years younger...how embarrassing.

He flicked the transmission switch on the radio, nothing, not even a hiss or static crackle. He flipped the switch on and off a few more times, trying to coax some life out of the device.

Finn sighed frustratedly and ran a hand through his hair, not caring for once that his immaculately spiked hair was now sticking up every which way. He leant forward onto the rickety table on which the radio and other bits and pieces were scattered. _"I don't want to be here, on some stupid ball of ice, lost, hungry and stuck in the middle of nowhere in a blizzard...why couldn't we have had to rescue some babes on a beach?" _Finn scowled at the radio, willing it to work so he could get back to the nice warm Condor.

Finn jumped as Daisy out her small grey-furred hand on top of one of his tightly clenched fists, "Sometimes the snow stops the signal; it should work again in the morning when the storm stops." She smiled up at him shyly and Finn, good mood restored grinned back at her. Once she realised what she'd done Daisy frowned again and whipped her hand away as though she's been scalded, "Just because I believe you're going to help Aunty Ella doesn't mean I trust you."

She turned and stalked off in the direction of the kitchen, shaking his head ruefully the hungry Finn followed.

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**AN: **Loving all of the reviews, Hugs and Kisses for everyone who clicked that cute little button! Go on, click it again, you know you want to :)


	7. Tangled Webs

**Disclaimer**- I don't own anything (especially not the Storm Hawks, but I like to!) except from the plot, my original characters (The Glaciers and Ella-Mae, Daisy and Dillan) and my Terra so please no stealing of them!

AN: I apologise profusely for not updating sooner, but when I wrote this chapter I really hated it and was totally Writer's Blocked when I tried to rewrite it so I left it for a week to see if it grew on me...it did.  
I'm still not 100 sure about it but I felt you guys deserved an update, I hope you enjoy it, if you do please review!

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Chapter 6- Tangled Web

An hour later the twins were curled up one on either side of Ella-Mae, sleeping quietly in the firelight.

Finn dropped down beside Simon who'd settled himself on the rug in front of the fire where he could keep an eye on the trio of Blizzarians across the room. "So," the blond began, "How do you know that girl?"

Simon looked back over his shoulder at Finn, "You really wanna know fella?" Simon leaned forward, bracing his brawny forearms on his knees, "It's a long story eh."

Finn shrugged, "We got all night dude, the radio won't work in this weather."

Simon pulled out a leather thong from underneath his parka; he pulled the necklace over his head and let it dangle in the firelight; highlights bouncing off the gold hoop threaded on the cord. A hoop that matched the one in the young blizzarian's ear.

"Well she lived next door to us back on Blizzaris before the Cyclonians took it over eh. She moved there when she was five," he counted briefly on his fingers, "I would've been eight then and having four younger sisters Ellie was always underfoot." He paused and Finn motioned for him to continue.

"I remember that she was real quiet and her ma was real fearsome eh, a real dragon. She was some sort of scientist, an expert in Blizzarian history; the really old stuff ya know. Anyways I got Ellie these earrings for her eighth birthday an uh I guess she musta known she was going away because she gave me one, she told me it was so we'd know each other if we met up again when we were all grown up eh."

Simon stopped and flicked the hoop; making it twirl and dance on the cord, "I never plucked up the courage to wear it properly though eh; I'm terrified of needles." He grinned depreciatingly as he slipped the necklace back on, "Give me a squad of Talons any day."

Finn snorted quietly, laughing at the idea of the huge brawny Blizzarian being reduced to a quivering wreck by a trip to the doctors.

"Hey! It's not funny eh." Simon punched Finn on the arm.

Finn yelped as his arm went instantly numb, "Dude, uncalled for!"

"You should get some sleep half-pint, hopefully we'll be out of here early tomorrow." Simon threw a blanket and pillow at Finn, "I'm going to stay up a little longer eh and catch up with Ellie." Simon scooted over to where the twins and Ellie lay. He watched the blond sharpshooter settle down before he began to gently stoke his old friend's hair.

Outside, the storm began to fade as a figure approached the hut. Mist's white fur-lined cloak flapped gently. She knew the children were inside and that they were not alone; the abandoned Ice Grinder was proof of that.

She stopped beside it and disconnected a few vital wires inside the engine compartment, "There; that will stop them from getting away."

Mist crept up toward the house, carefully peering into each window until she reached the room where the children and off-worlders were sleeping. She pulled a small black box out of a bag on her belt; it had a tiny amplifier crystal mounted on a disc at the end of a wire. Mist carefully and quietly attached it to the window, pulled her cloak around herself, blending into the snow and settled down to wait.

Hundreds of miles away storm clouds were gathering. A lone Switchblade sped past the border patrol and swooped down across the lave flows covering Cyclonia. The Talon gulped nervously, he had bee sent from the Midgardian Facility to relay the bad news of the twins' escape to Master Cyclonis in person.

He felt sick; Master Cyclonis never took bad news well. Eager to get it over with he abandoned his skimmer and trotted up through the tower to where Master Cyclonis' throne room was. He removed his helmet and tucked it under one arm before gingerly tapping on the door.

"Come"

The Talon gulped and pushed open the door; Master Cyclonis' voice had had that eerie harmonic to it which boded no good for him.

Nervously he poked his head around the door; Master Cyclonis had her back to him, busy with her crystal engine.

"What do you want?" she hissed

"Uh, I, uh…" the Talon shook as he took a few trembling steps into the room.

Master Cyclonis growled and a beam of crimson energy shot out of her staff and grasped the hapless Talon and dragged him across the room to where she was working.

"Now tell me why you have disturbed my _very _important work." She narrowed her eyes and dropped him to the floor.

"The Children have escaped; t-the nurse took them and they disappeared over the ridge. We-"

"How long?"

"Two weeks. We've been searching everyday, but the storms have been almost constant." He ground to a halt at Master Cyclonis' decidedly unimpressed expression.

"Get out." Cyclonis growled and narrowed her eyes to slits; as soon as the Talon had fled she glared at a shadow lounging against one of the pillars supporting the roof, "You can come out now Dark Ace."

The dark haired young man strutted out from the shadows. He smiled coldly and knelt before his young ruler

"Dark Ace I want you to go to Terra Midgard and find those children, at _any_ cost." Master Cyclonis' eyes glittered with a dangerous glint, one Dark Ace knew and loved; that glint meant that she was allowing him fee rein to be as destructive as he wanted.

"My only stipulation," she continued, "is that the Seeds must remain whole and unharmed. I need them to make the Rose bloom again."

"What of the nurse?"

"She is no longer…indispensable."

Dark Ace flashed an unholy grin; he was going to enjoy this task, that nurse had sassed him once too often, he was going to savour her demise. "As you wish." He saluted, spun on his heel and strode out of the audience chamber whistling an inordinately jaunty tune.

Master Cyclonis went back to working on her crystal engine, muttering to herself in that strange double voice, "Soon all of Atmos will tremble before the might of Cyclonia; with the Seeds in my possession not even the Sky Knights will be able to stand against us!" she threw he head back and laughed.

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AN: Sooo, this chapter didn't suck as much as when i first read it... but i still feel like a neglectful parent for not updating sooner...  
Please review you loverly, patient people, reviews keep me motivated and hopefully through this horrible horrible wirter's block. 

So click that little purple button, you know you want to!  
X


	8. Tangled Webs 2

**Disclaimer- **I don't own Storm Hawks, sadly :( but I do own the plot and my terra and OC's

**Notes:** I have no excuse for being such a terrible writer; abandoning you guys for so long, but my hardrive suffered a system failure near Christmas and its taken this long for me to get most of my stuff backed up and up to date. So here is the next instalment of the Crystal Rose which I'm dedicating to Lady Snowstorm :)

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Chapter 6A

It was nearly midnight on Terra Midgard and the Condor lay quiet in its snowy bed. Everything was quiet; Aerrow thought it was too quiet; the snow storm that had battered the carrier almost nonstop since the sun had set had died and Aerrow found the total and sudden silence unnerving.

He'd tried to sleep but images of Finn lying frozen and broken at the bottom of a crevasse kept flashing in front of his eyes. Eventually he gave up and decided to do a quick check on everyone. Aerrow sat up and pulled his trousers on, even with the Condor's remaining engines running and the heating coil working intermittently it was far too cold to wander around less than fully dressed.

Radarr uncurled himself from his warm spot on Aerrow's pillow and looked at the teen as Aerrow tried to tiptoe out of the room, Radarr squawked sleepily at his friend; Aerrow grimaced, "Sorry for waking you up buddy, it's alright, go back to sleep, I'm just going to go check on things." He smiled; Radarr had fallen asleep already!

Aerrow yawned and brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes; he tiptoed past the girl's room; everything seemed normal there. Junko's room was next down the corridor, Junko's snores reverberated from inside, joined by what Aerrow assumed to be Tuomas. He paused as he reached Finn's room where Jay and Bobby-Lee had bunked down. Logically he knew it wasn't his fault that Finn and Simon were lost but he couldn't help but wonder if he would ever hear Finn's radio blast out another Nimbus Nimrod's game.

Aerrow sighed quietly and decided to check on Stork; he knew the cold-blooded Merb would be suffering in this weather.

He bypassed Stork's room and headed straight for the bridge, he knew stork would be staying as close to the heating coil as merbly possible.

When Aerrow stepped onto the bridge it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light, or rather the lack of it, Stork had turned off every light; even the heat coil had been turned off.

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AN: Well here it is; hope you can forgive me and please review : ) I shall be updating any of my stories more frequently now, but in smaller, bite-sized chunks!

Things to look forward to next time- What is Stork up to? the return of Finn and Simon, Mist's mission revealed and more!


	9. An Apology

Hello to all of you lovely people; I just wanted to reassure you all that I am still alive! (barely).

The story will continue, unfortunately I've been in a couple nasty accidents (the last one involved a car, my head and 3 weeks of amnesia) and have only just been able to get back to work and be able to use the computer.

So hopefully in the downtimes between hospital appointments I'll be able to write an update for you :)

Much love to you all

BB


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